


Unexpected Friendships

by Chaotic_Dreamer



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Gift Exchange, Minor Spoilers, Retrospective, The Seireitei Gift Exchange 2020, Unlikely Friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27797968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Dreamer/pseuds/Chaotic_Dreamer
Summary: Arisawa Tatsuki was always being left behind, left without answers and left worrying if her friends were safe and alive. With all these emotions, she turns to an unlikely source for information and reassurance. Hirako Shinji.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: The Seireitei Server Holidays Gift Exchange 2020





	Unexpected Friendships

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dr4gonbl4z3r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr4gonbl4z3r/gifts).



Tatsuki frowned, there were three of them, but only one was of interest to her. Tall, at least to her, blonde hair and with the type of accessories that made him stand out instead of look cool. The two he was with, females and complete opposites. One taller than her, the other short, one blonde the other dark. One in a tracksuit, the other in high school uniform reminiscent of a kogal fashion style. They were an odd trio and Tatsuki didn’t know what it was about them that was so interesting. It was like deja-vu, or at least a sense of familiarity when she looked at the male. She turned, instinctively, to talk to someone who wasn’t there, to ask if she knew why the male was so familiar to her. A flash of something, of incredible pressure and the friend she was looking for standing protectively over her. 

She turned back to the trio, they had turned, watching her and the male raised his hand, a weird sort of look on his face before the smaller of the two dragged his hand down and the taller hit him over the head with a magazine. A look on both their faces suggested that the gesture, innocent at best, was the wrong thing to do. 

Tatsuki still stared at him, almost as if staring would force her memories to come to fruition. It was like there was a block in her mind, a haze of missing memories, of things that didn’t make sense. Of mysterious students appearing and then disappearing, of friendships powerful enough to evoke feelings and emotions, despite not remembering faces or names. She turned again, before realising that she wasn’t there. She almost groaned in frustration then, one of the two people that could have possibly helped her get over the overwhelming need to find the answers. A thought came to her, a flash of the male in a school uniform, of writing his name backwards. And she knew, she knew instinctively, that he could shed some light on where her friends had gone.

She took off, crossing the road with barely a glance, her hand curling into a fist and before the male even had time to respond she’d punched him, right between the eyes. She didn’t know why, but it felt good to wipe the smug smile off his face.

“Oi!” it was the smallest of the three who responded, leaping at her with an intent to fight back.

“Hiyori,” the male warned, rubbing his nose. Even though Tatsuki had put all her energy and rage into the punch, to the male it looked at though she’d merely thrown a pebble at him. The other female held the smallest one back, and with the look of pure fury on the little’s ones face. Tatsuki was almost glad. “Tatsuki-chan here was just saying hello.”

“Don’t you Tatsuki-chan me!” rage spiralling she stepped forward ready for another punch. “I’m not just some girl you can fawn over and call your first love!” If Tatsuki was being honest with herself, she’d no idea where the nonsense she was sprouting had come from, but it must have been true for the taller female laughed.

“She’s got you pegged, and she met you like once?”

Hirako, for the name popped into her head as it had always been there, looked at her and placed a hand on his hip. “The real question is why does she remember.”

“It’s Kisuke,” Hiyori, the smaller blonde said. “When does anything he make work?”

“Where’s Ichigo and Orihime?” her voice wasn’t loud enough over their bickering, so she tried again. “Where’s Ichigo and Orihime?”

“Who and who?” Hiyori asked, leaning on the woman still holding her and scratching the inside of her ear.

“You know who Ichigo is, I’m assuming Orihime is the one Haachi was interested in.”

"My...." Hirako ran a hand through his hair. "This is a problem."

Annoyed that she still wasn’t getting any answers, Tatsuki grabbed Hirako by his tie and pulled him in close. “Where are Ichigo and Orihime?”

“Oi!” Hiyori yelled again and tried to break free of the other woman’s grip.

Hirako sighed and placed his hands on Tatsuki and pushed her away. He was annoyingly calm and it pissed Tatsuki off. “Tatsuki... Arisawa-san... you won’t get answers here in public. You’re also lucky that Lisa here is holding Hiyori back, she’s small but rather feisty.” Hiyori glared at him. “Listen,” he took out his phone and typed something before turning it around and showing her the screen. She had seconds to memorise what was written, an address of some warehouse in the next town over before he was pocketing his phone again. “If you really want answers, then that’s where you need to be..” He stepped back, looking at her with a mixture of intrigue and sorrow before turning and crossing the street.

The two females looked at her, then followed him across the road. Tatsuki heard the blonde titter. Pigtails and a permanent scowl, teasing the fact Hirako got beat up by a girl.

~*~

“She was from the High School right?” Lisa asked him once they were back at the warehouse and filled in the others of what had happened and to prepare them for their potential guest.

“Yeah,” Shinji replied. “It was like she didn’t fully recognise me, so the memory replacement is still there, she was just fighting it.”

“Kisuke said she survived against an Espada, the humans in this town are pretty freaky with high spiritual power.”

“There are many explanations for that Hiyori, we’ve been over this...” Shinji was still trying to figure out what went down. He’d gone into Karakura High to recruit Ichigo, as soon as he was done, he was memory replaced from everyone. Of course recent events; the advance guard from the Soul Society, the attacks on the town and the subsequent disappearances of Orihime, the disappearance of Ichigo and his friends to rescue Orihime. It was only natural that Tatsuki would fight the memory replacement, that she would know that he had something to do with everything. Time however was running out. He switched out of his thoughts and back to the discussion around him.

“At any rate, who says hello like that?” Hiyori asked. “Just walks up to a stranger in the street and decks him for no apparent reason. She’s got some nerve.” That was Hiyori speak for: ‘I like her.’

“Anyone in the 11th,” Love replied, quiet until now.

“You,” Lisa rebutted and Shinji laughed when Hiyori jumped at her, Lisa wasn’t wrong.

~*~

“None of this makes any sense.”

Shinji, for she really remembered who he was now, shook his head. “It won’t, not now, and if I’m being honest, not ever. Things are happening in the background that is beyond your normal comprehension.”

Tatsuki’s annoyance flared, but when she stopped to think about it, that’s all it was. He was outwardly calling her normal, and everything else abnormal. Which in a way was true considering the explanation he’d just given.

It was later that day, she’d finally worked up the courage to find the warehouse, the urge to at least have answers at where her friends were if they were even safe, was too strong to ignore. Even now she still didn’t fully comprehend what he was saying. He had a weird way of talking as well. Started at the end, before circling round to the beginning. It made her head spin a little.

“Look,” Shinji was talking again. “Whatever they have planned... you’re different. Just be careful as it might not work.”

Tatsuki resisted the urge to rub her face. Was it just her who couldn’t understand him? He wasn’t making sense.

“Have faith in your friends. This kinda thing, butting their nose in where it doesn’t belong, it’s something they just do. But we can’t complain too much... well Hiyori might...” he drifts of lost in his own thoughts and Tatsuki stares at him. He’s this air about him, like he’s a leader but doesn’t want to be. She’d briefly met the others of his group, they all seemed to respect him. “Sorry... I think you should go. Tonight things happen and you should really be asleep for it.”

Tatsuki blinked. “Asleep?”

Shinji laughed. “I actually got that one right. I usually get things backwards” He stood and offered his hands. “Ichigo will protect Orihime and then will come back to protect you. Have faith in him.”

Tatsuki shook her head. “You’re weird.”

“I prefer the term backwardly unique, but sure,” he grinned. “I’ll see you out, come on...”

The way he said it was final, and with more questions than answers, Tatsuki followed him out and made her way home.

~*~

The next day things got weird, waking up with everyone asleep? Finding her friends and travelling through the deserted streets of Karakura Town. It was Karakura, but it wasn’t Karakura. Her mind was addled but instead of thinking of Ichigo and Orihime and if they were safe, she couldn’t help but think of Shinji and his weird way of explaining exactly what was happening. There was even that brief stint she did as a superhero, but honestly, that part was so surreal she was positive it was a dream. Maybe meeting Shinji was a dream, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Shinji had got one thing wrong though, although maybe it was an assumption on her part. He said she’d have been sleeping for it, but she’d woken up that morning feeling no different, it wasn’t until she woke up in the middle of the street with no memory of how she even fell asleep, with everyone else asleep around her did she realise something was wrong.

She was awake it seemed, in a town where everyone was sleeping, even in the middle of the day. She walked, aimlessly, just walking around, letting her feet carry her and before she knew it she was on the edge of town. Her feet, her subconscious, leading her to the one place she knew she’d get answers. But the warehouse was in the next town over, and that town wasn’t there. Just the river and some mountains. It didn’t take much for Tatsuki to realise that the whole town had been moved. Which was nonsense, but considering her conversations and what she’d seen over the past couple of days, anything was truly possible, even the displacement of a whole town.

She’d found her friends easily enough, managed to get them somewhere safe so she could keep searching. Keigo was crying, which was nothing new, but it felt good to finally punch someone who would actually get knocked down. The school was a viable option, somewhere to bunker down whilst they figured out what the hell was going on. Perhaps they could visit that odd sweet shop owner, the one in her dream that had them as superheroes with an Ichigo clone. Her memory was fuzzy about that, still somewhat convinced it was a dream, but she’d seen that man before, opening a portal for Ichigo, Chad and Uryuu. If she couldn’t get answers from Shinji, perhaps she could get answers from him.

What she was certain of was that Ichigo would save them. 

~*~

They were back, things looked different, but the mountains had gone, people were awake and continuing with their daily lives as if nothing had happened. Only her and her friends, the ones that had been awake when they’d met that weird man, could remember much. She didn’t mean Don Kanoji at that point, him turning up, when she’d finally started believing in her doubt, that perhaps Ichigo wasn’t coming, that meeting Shinji was all just some weird dream and that he wasn’t going to turn up either. 

The power, the pressure emanating from the strange man had been almost too much to bear, it had taken all her willpower, all the love and resolve of making sure her friends were safe, to stop her from loosing conscious. Don Kanoji hadn’t done much to help but he at least managed to distract them enough for a beautiful blonde to really give them a chance. She wore the same kimono as she’d seen Ichigo wear, and deep down Tatsuki had known she’d be able to help. She knew she could trust her, but she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy that Ichigo had such a beautiful friend.

The rest of the dream, if it could be called that, passed by in a blur. Keigo with a sword, Mizuiro waking up and throwing a bomb. The weird man cocooning into some sort of butterfly. In all honestly, Tatsuki had been glad to have woken up from it, it had been getting rather strange.

~*~

The first thing she’d done upon waking was to head for the warehouse, but it was empty. Perhaps it had all been a dream, no-one else seemed to remember Shinji, but something told Tatsuki it wasn’t. Much like the events when Karakura had been moved. She didn’t believe it was a dream and everything had in fact happened. The one thing she had to back this up was the fact that Ichigo and Orihime still weren’t back yet. Even the sweet shop lay dark and empty. 

Still, she made the trip daily, first checking the shop and then the warehouse. She wasn’t entirely sure why perhaps for clarification or news on Ichigo and Orihime. But mostly, she realised, it was to check on Shinji. There was something about him that just made her want to check that he and his friends were safe.

Ichigo was different when he returned, more withdrawn, he no longer had that confident air about him. Nobody else was back, just Ichigo, Orihime, Chad and Uryuu and it was a relief to have them back. Orihime had told her everything, well as much as she knew, but the fact remained is that Ichigo no longer had the powers that made him who he was. He was human, just like they were and it was going to take a bit of time for him to get used to that.

With having Orihime back at least, Tatsuki’s visits to the warehouse dwindled. When she’d first woken up it had been daily, now with her friends back and things back to normal, it was once a month, if that. It wasn’t that she’d forgotten about Shinji or any of his friends, it was just that with her finally getting the answers she needed from Orihime, she felt she didn’t have an excuse to visit any more. 

That was until she saw a familiar face in town.

“Oi!” she yelled, echoing a similar greeting from almost six months ago and she crossed the street. Forcing the small blond to stop in her tracks. Hands-on her hips, Tatsuki glared down at her. “Where the hell have you all been?”

Hiyori glared up at her, her hands balling into fists. “Like a human could even comprehend the hell we’ve been through the last six months. Run home, little girl. What happened is no business for the likes of you.”

Tatsuki threw a punch at her, but Hiyori saw it coming, dodged to the side grabbed her fist and in an extraordinary move considering the height difference twisted Tatsuki’s arm back and flipped her over her shoulder. Whatever Tatsuki had planned to happen from their meeting, lying on the floor, on her back, looking up at Hiyori had not been on the list.

“Where’s Shinji?” she groaned getting up and standing defensively back lest Hiyori try that again. 

Hiyori spat on the ground, her face contorting up in pain. “Don’t ever mention that traitors name!” Tatsuki looked at her confused. “Fucking Baldy,” Hiyori was ranting now as if Tatsuki’s question had just opened a flood gate and all Hiyori’s pent up emotions came crashing out. “Just because the soul society cleared us does not mean the bastard had to take his job back. We hate shinigami, yet there he is, leading them. He wasn’t the only one, Rose and Kensei followed suit? Well, they’re all dead to me and if anyone” she rounded on Tatsuki and grabbed her by the bow of her school uniform. “Mentions the names of those traitors to me again,” Hiyori got right up in her face. “I’ll kill them!”

Tatsuki didn’t stick around long enough to know if Hiyori was joking or not, but from what she’d seen of the feisty blond in the red tracksuit, she was definitely capable of at least doing some harm. 

Hiyori hadn’t said much, but what she had said had given Tatsuki a lot of information. Wherever this otherworld was, this Soul Society, Shinji had decided to stay. Which if Tatsuki was being honest with herself, made her a little sad. Despite his weird backwards way of explaining things to her, he’d been the first person to really explain everything without leaving out anything, without treating her any different, and he did it without treating her like a child. It had been a refreshing conversation, if not a little peculiar. And to hear that he didn’t come back to Karakura town made her miss that conversation. But she wasn’t going back to the warehouse to ask how she could get in touch with him, she valued her life a little too much and Hiyori was terrifying.

~*~

The years passed, Ichigo got better started almost becoming his old self again, however, he was still missing something. Tatsuki could tell and no matter how much she tried to distract him, to be there for him, she knew she wasn’t what he needed. 

Nothing untoward had happened either, seventeen months and things were for the most part normal. That was until there was that whole thing with Tsukishima appearing out of nowhere and alerting hers and others memories, Uryuu started acting weirder than normal, Ichigo, Chad and Orihime ran off again, once again leaving Tatsuki behind. She tried not to let it get to her, that it was just because she couldn’t do what they could do. Something had happened previously. Ichigo suddenly appeared at school looking like he did back when they were fifteen. Strong and confident, he’d found what he’d been missing and Tatsuki was happy for him. She’d been worried, of course, but to know that he was back, that his powers were back, made her really happy for him.

Weird men had a habit of turning up in front of them when things were starting to get strange. Only this man, an eyepatch, with a pink kimono over his black one, gave them tickets. It was casual, almost as if he was congratulating them on winning a holiday. The tickets, he’d explained, would let them visit Ichigo. Once again, Ichigo had been dragged away to help in a fight that wasn’t necessarily his own, but this time he might not be able to leave. The tickets, it was explained to them, were to be used to visit should he not be allowed to return.

Return he did though, which relieved Tatsuki. The thing about Ichigo was that he was just too good. If someone needed help he would help. That was just the kind of guy he was. Saving his family, rescuing Rukia, Orihime, helping the Soul Society when they were pinned up against the wall with no way out. Ichigo was that kind of guy and Tatsuki really admired that about him. 

With Ichigo back home though, the ticket went unused. It wasn’t until sometime later when she’d been reflecting on everything that had happened during her high school years did she remember it and realise what it could be used for.

It was hidden in a shoebox under her bed and she pulled it out to look at it. It had been years since she’d thought of him, years since she’d felt a need to talk with him. But now, with the ticket in her hand, she couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing, if he was still there if Hiyori was still mad at him. She’s seen Hiyori around, she’d ended up getting a job at the same place Ichigo had worked at. But she kept a wide berth not wanting to face her wrath.

It took her a week to finally decide to use the ticket. If anything she was curious and if not a little jealous. Orihime had told her about this Soul Society and she had been keen to see it herself. Go and see what it was that made this place worth saving. Made it so that her friends would constantly put their lives on the line and go help.

Urahara the sweet shop owner was only too happy to help.

~*~

It was very bright, that’s the first thing that came to mind when she stood on the outskirts. There was a huge difference between where she landed, some dusty Edo-period town, to the city in front of her. She’d walked around for a bit, exploring the town but it seemed to stretch on forever. If this was the afterlife as it had been explained to her, then it looked nothing like she expected. 

Finally, she took the plunge and crossed into the city. What surprised her first was that no-one stopped her. Were they so used to strangers just coming and going that these people didn’t bat an eye at a twenty-year-old female in the wrong sort of clothes considering what everyone else was wearing? What she failed to realise until she’d been walking for a while, was the vast size of the city and that she’d no idea of where to even find him. So she flagged down someone and asked.

“Where can I find Shinji?” The shinigami looked at her, and for a second Tatsuki thought she was going to have to fight her way out. 

Instead, he just looked at her confusedly. “Who?” he asked.

“Hirako Shinji?” Tatsuki tried again. “Or maybe Kuchiki Rukia?” There were a few names in her arsenal that she could drop to get what she wanted. She’d save Kyōraku’s for last though, he seemed a bit too important and after all the tickets were to be used to visit Ichigo, she was surprised they still worked.

“Oh the captain of fifth... he’s probably there, or at least Lieutenant Hinamori would know where he is. Do you have an appointment?”

Tatsuki had to laugh about being asked if she had an appointment, it was such a normal response to asking to see someone that she didn’t expect it from a place that was anything but normal. “I’m a friend of Kurosaki Ichigo’s?”

The mannerism of the Shinigami changed instantly. “Oh! That’s amazing! He’s like a hero! He doesn’t know me, but tell him I say hi!” Tatsuki nodded, filing away the information that Ichigo, her friend Ichigo, was some sort of a celebrity in this world. “So you want fifth? You’re really close, just head down that street for about five minutes and you’ll see the opening to their main courtyard. Best place to find him would be his office.”

Tatsuki nodded her thanks and headed in the direction he’d pointed. She was glad she was close, she’d have hated to have walked in the wrong direction. She’d not seen any vehicles, so she wondered how people got about, or if they just stuck to their own sections. The whole place had a military feel to it.

No-one accosted her when she arrived at the fifth division either and she found Shinji’s office with ease. It was, after all, the only one with the nameplate written backwards. She knocked, to be polite and a girl answered, small and brunette.

“Yes?” she asked, curiously.

“Is Shinji in?” Tatsuki felt like a child knocking on a friend's door asking if they wanted to come out and play.

Before the female shinigami had time to respond, Shinji’s voice came from within. “Is that Tatsuki-chan!!” There was the scuff of a chair being pushed against the floor, footsteps bounding over and the door being opened wide. “Tatsuki chan!!!” His enthusiasm was infectious and Tatsuki allowed him to pull her into a hug. “You’ve grown!” He finally said, breaking the hug, but with his hands, on her shoulders, so he could push back and look at her properly. “But it’s only been a year!”

“It’s been five...” Tatsuki said and Shinji looked at the other shinigami who nodded, agreeing with Tatsuki.

“Five years?” Shinji whistled. “Then we have a lot to catch up on.” He grinned and pulled Tatsuki into the office and leading her over to a couch in the middle of the room. She'd managed to get a brief look of the office before she was pushed down to sit on the couch whilst he took a seat in an armchair next to her. It was spacious. A desk by the door, which was the female shinigami's, a larger desk opposite but to the side. They could see each other from the positions of the chairs but there was a space between. The sofa and armchairs were in the middle, facing a set of shoji that opened into a courtyard. 

“Momo!” Shinji said looking at the female shinigami. “This is Arisawa Tatsuki, a friend of Ichigo’s. Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off hmm?” 

Momo looked ready to argue, but instead, she nodded and backed out the office with a bow, leaving Tatsuki alone with Shinji.

“Right then,” Shinji grinned. “Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? How did it go with Aizen?”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Gift Exchange Dex!! I’m not gonna lie this was a hard request to fill sweatdrops But I hope I’ve done it somewhat justice. Filler episodes are now the bane of my life because the Tatsuki meeting Aizen scenes were on either side of some random filler episode 😅 But anyway! Enjoy some unlikely friendship between Shinji and Tatsuki! Shinji is an all-time fave so when I saw that was the common tag between us it was a no-brainer with what I was going to write. It was just what about lol. Then I figured a scenario with Tatsuki would work and I think it does. Of which I have a newfound respect for so thank you for reminding me of her 🙏
> 
> Artistic liberties have been taken for the purpose of this fic especially with regards to canon and meetings and timeframes but I hope it works.
> 
> Happy Holidays!


End file.
